FILED: October 21, 1998
STATE ex rel ANTHONY L. CURRY,
Appellant,
v.
S. FRANK THOMPSON, Superintendent,
Oregon State Penitentiary, TAMARA BLAIR,
Records Officer, Oregon State Penitentiary,
LARRY DANIEL, Records Manager,
Oregon State Penitentiary,
Respondents.
Appeal from Circuit Court, Marion County.
Rodney Miller, Judge.
Submitted on record and briefs June 19, 1998.
Anthony L. Curry filed the brief pro se.
Hardy Myers, Attorney General, Michael D. Reynolds, Solicitor General, and Jas. Adams, Assistant Attorney General, filed the brief for respondents.
Before Warren, Presiding Judge, and Edmonds and Armstrong, Judges.
EDMONDS, J.
Reversed and remanded with instructions to issue peremptory writ of mandamus in accordance with this opinion.
EDMONDS, J.
Plaintiff, an inmate in the Oregon State Penitentiary, sought a writ of
mandamus granting him presentence incarceration credit against his sentences. ORS
34.105 to 34.250. He appeals from a judgment in favor of defendants that dismissed his
petition with prejudice. We reverse and remand.
The following facts are taken from the trial court record on which the trial
court based its dismissal. According to a Jail Certification and Authorization for Earned
Early Release Credit from the Washington State Department of Corrections, plaintiff was
incarcerated in Washington from August 27 to September 29, 1993, and from October
14, 1993, to May 2, 1994.(1) We address each period separately. During the first period,
plaintiff was incarcerated from August 27 to September 28, 1993, relating to a
Washington charge of harassment. Plaintiff was held concurrently on other charges
during part of this time. The record does not expressly indicate that the other charges
were Oregon charges. He remained in custody until September 29, 1993, when he was
released.
During the second period, plaintiff was reincarcerated on October 14,
1993, relating to a Washington charge of promoting prostitution. On October 19, he
became eligible to be released on the Washington charge pending the filing of a
complaint. However, before October 19, Multnomah County requested that its warrant
in case number C930633902 be executed. Thus, plaintiff remained in custody. On
October 20, plaintiff signed a waiver of extradition to Oregon. On October 26, he was
charged in Washington with promoting prostitution under case number 93-C-07246-1,
and he was incarcerated on that charge until April 29, 1994. Plaintiff remained in
custody in Washington until May 2, 1994, when he was transferred to Oregon. Finally,
on September 19, 1994, plaintiff was convicted in Oregon of two counts of promoting
prostitution and compelling prostitution and one count each of rape in the third degree
and custodial interference in the first degree under case number C930633902.
Plaintiff sought credit for the time served in Washington and, when
defendants failed to credit that time, initiated the present proceeding. Defendants moved
to dismiss in the trial court on the grounds that plaintiff's petition failed to state ultimate
facts sufficient to constitute a claim and, in the alternative, that defendants had no
obligation to award plaintiff credit. Defendants argued that plaintiff was incarcerated in
Washington for crimes or conduct in Washington state, as well as the charges in Oregon,
during the periods of time for which he seeks credit. It follows, they contend, that
because the Washington charges were not directly related to the crimes for which
sentences were later imposed in Oregon, plaintiff is not entitled to credit under ORS
137.370(4). In his response to defendants' motion to dismiss, plaintiff maintained that he
was entitled to credit under ORS 137.320(2)(a) but did not contest the applicability of
ORS 137.370(4). His response to defendants' motion included evidence of his
unconditional release on the Washington charge of promoting prostitution, Multnomah
County's request to execute its warrant, his waiver of extradition and a sheet indicating
when the charges for promoting prostitution were filed in Washington. In its letter
opinion, the trial court indicated that "all [plaintiff's] material and responses have been
allowed, filed and considered." The court found "[d]efendant's authorities and arguments
* * * persuasive."(2)
On appeal, plaintiff argues that he is entitled to 233 days of
preincarceration credit against his sentences. He contends that because the Washington
charges resulting in his incarceration between August 27 and September 29, 1993, were
dismissed, he was being held only on the fugitive warrant from Oregon during the time.
He also contends that the Washington charge of promoting prostitution and the Oregon
convictions for promoting and compelling prostitution are interrelated because two
witnesses testified in both trials on the charges. Furthermore, he asserts that from
October 19 to October 26, 1993, he was held solely on a fugitive warrant from Oregon.
A judgment refusing to grant a writ of mandamus may be appealed as in
any action. ORS 34.240. "[A] mandamus proceeding is an action at law or in the nature
of a law action." Kirschbaum v. Abraham, 267 Or 353, 355, 517 P2d 272 (1973). We
are bound by the trial court's factual findings if supported by the evidence in the record,
id., and we review for errors of law, Haas v. Hathaway, 144 Or App 478, 480, 928 P2d
331 (1996).
ORS 137.370 provides, in part:
"(2) Except as provided in subsections (3) and (4) of this section,
when a person is sentenced to imprisonment in the custody of the
Department of Corrections, for the purpose of computing the amount of
sentence served the term of confinement includes only:
"(a) The time that the person is confined by any authority after the
arrest for the crime for which sentence is imposed[.]"
"* * * * *
"(4) A person who is confined as the result of a sentence for a crime
or conduct that is not directly related to the crime for which the sentence is
imposed * * * shall not receive presentence incarceration credit for the
time served in jail towards service of the term of confinement."
In Randolph v. Dept. of Corrections, 139 Or App 79, 85, 910 P2d 1171, rev den 323 Or
114 (1996), we interpreted ORS 137.370(4) to mean that "credit for time spent in custody
between arrest and commencement of sentence under ORS 137.320 is to be given only
for time spent in custody as the result of the charge or conduct that gave rise to the
charge for which the sentence is later imposed" (emphasis added).
Thus, the only issue in this case is whether the evidence in the record in its
entirety supports the trial court's dismissal. We hold that it does not. Plaintiff argues that
he is entitled to a total of 233 days of credit. From August 27 to September 28, 1993,
plaintiff was incarcerated on a Washington state harassment charge and from October 14,
1993 to October 19, 1993, and October 26, 1993 to April 29, 1994, plaintiff was
incarcerated on a Washington charge of promoting prostitution. Although plaintiff was
held concurrently during parts of those periods for Oregon and Washington charges, his
incarceration was not solely the result of the Oregon charges or the conduct that gave rise
to those charges. Plaintiff would have remained in custody even if there had been no
Oregon charges against him. The fact that two witnesses testified in the Oregon and
Washington trials for promoting prostitution does not mean that the charges were the
same or that the same conduct gave rise to both charges. Because plaintiff was not being
held solely as a result of the charge or the conduct that gave rise to the charge for which
he was later sentenced, he is not entitled to credit for those periods.(3)
From October 19, 1993, until October 26, 1993, plaintiff was being held
solely on the warrant from Oregon. Thereafter, plaintiff was held from April 29 to May
2, 1994, solely on Oregon case number C930633902. Thus, he is entitled to credit for
those periods because his detention was the result of the Oregon charges of which he was
eventually convicted. The trial court erred in dismissing plaintiff's petition for a writ of
mandamus with regard to credit for those periods. Otherwise, the trial court's ruling was
correct.
Reversed and remanded with instructions to issue peremptory writ of
mandamus in accordance with this opinion.
1. According to a Statement of Imprisonment from Multnomah County, plaintiff was
incarcerated in the State of Washington from August 27 to September 29, 1993, from October 15
to October 16, 1993, and from October 18, 1993, to May 2, 1994, on Multnomah County case
number C930633902 for a total of 233 days. A notation on the statement indicates that
Multnomah County verified that plaintiff spent that time incarcerated in Washington, but it also
indicates that "W[ashington] must certify this time case specific to O[regon] charges."
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2. ORS 137.370(4) was not enacted until 1995. Plaintiff was convicted in 1994.
However, he does not argue that the current statute is inapplicable to him. Instead, he refers to
the statute in his brief and argues that the crimes of promoting prostitution in Oregon and
Washington were interrelated. For purposes of this opinion, we accept his implicit concession
that ORS 137.370(4) applies.
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3. The same reasoning applies to the day of September 29, 1993. The record is unclear about whether plaintiff was being held pursuant to the Oregon charge on that day.
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